by Amy Cross
“You can't...” I look down at the mud, then back at Astley. “You can't put World War One in a little room”.
“Can't you?” he asks. “That's where I'd prefer to put it. And Gothos agrees. Put it like this. When you're feeling miserable, don't you like to reach out to other miserable people? Maybe listen to a Leonard Cohen album?”
“Leonard Cohen is actually quite optimistic,” I say.
“Whatever. But the point is, a house is the same. And Gothos reached out to the only other place where it could find the same kind of horror and heartbreak. Fortunately, this allows us to poddle on over and head off. Well, it allows me to escape, anyway”.
“This doesn't make sense,” I say.
“Oh come off it,” he says, laughing. “Haven't you ever noticed that your whole life doesn't make sense?” he asks. He's fixed me with a strange stare, as if he's peering deep into my soul. “Haven't you ever noticed that your reactions don't make sense? Your life, your family. It's all slightly out of whack. As if it's... someone's guess at what a life should be, rather than an actual life itself”.
I'm not sure what to say.
“When you first met Patrick,” says Astley, “what was your reaction? You weren't shocked. You didn't run screaming. You barely even asked any questions. When you were almost killed by those muggers, and Vincent healed you with his hands in just one night, you barely even asked him how he did it. You just accepted it. You were so credulous. Why is that?”
I look down at my hands. They're shaking. I look back up at him. “What am I?” I ask.
He smiles and shakes his head. “That's not for me to say,” he replies. “Even if I knew everything, it would not be my responsibility. But if you want a clue, just a little tease, then I'll tell you this. It's not a matter of what you are. It's who you are. After all, do you think the prophecy just chose a random girl?”
I want to tell him that there are no such things as prophecies. Hell, I want to tell him that there's no such thing as vampires and ghosts and werewolves as well. But I can't.
The ground shakes as an explosion rocks the trench. In the distance, there's the sound of machine gun fire.
Astley steps closer. “I need you to do me a favour,” he says calmly. “I need you to let me kill you. Let me kill you without damaging your body. Then I can be you. I can... I will walk in your body. I will talk in your voice. I will think with your mind. I will make a game of you”.
I shake my head. “Get away from me”.
“I can't,” he says. “I can't and I won't. You see, Patrick isn't the only one with a prophecy. I have one too, it says that I will catch you and kill you and chew on your bones. But I don't want that. I want to keep your body as it is. I'm willing to break a prophecy for you. Is Patrick will to do that? Of course not. He doesn't love you. He will kill you eventually, because that is what the prophecy tells him he has to do”.
I turn to get away from him, but he grabs me and bites my arm. I manage to pull back, but there's blood pouring from the wound.
“Don't fight,” he says. “Would you rather I kill you, or would you rather Patrick kills you? At least with me, you haven't got some kind of infantile desire to be loved!”
I try to stop the bleeding, but it's a deep wound. “I'd rather no-one kills me,” I say, and at that moment the door re-opens, with Patrick looking through. I run straight for him, and I find myself back in the corridor.
“Shut the door!” I shout, but Patrick keeps it open as, one by one, the three maids pass by us and head into the trench. It's obvious that they're stronger now, because they're walking properly.
For the first time, Astley looks worried. He steps back. “Get them out of here,” he says, then he screams: “GET THEM OUT OF HERE!”
Patrick shuts the door, then he pushes me aside and smashes the door down, revealing just a bare room on the other side.
“Good riddance,” says a voice, and I turn to see Diana standing in the corridor. She smiles at me. “That boy was a terrible nuisance. Now he will suffer a short, painful death at the hands of the three dying gods he thought he could use as weapons to kill Patrick”.
“What did he want?” I ask her.
“He wanted to take the body of another,” she says. “He was a ghost, which meant he was trapped in Gothos. He thought the gods would be angry at Patrick for destroying them, so he kept the gods alive for decades, hoping to finally unleash them on Patrick when he got the chance. He lured Patrick to Gothos, he set a trap. But the gods weren't angry at Patrick. They understood that their time was over. They were just angry at Astley for not letting them die sooner, for prolonging their agony”.
Patrick turns and walks away down the corridor.
“You should go with him,” says Diana. “You two should leave Gothos and never come back, for the sake of... everyone”.
“What about you?” I ask.
“Without Astley's life-force willing us to exist, we will start to fade now. He kept us all alive to play his little game. It will be a blessing to fade from existence”.
I shuffle past her and run to catch up with Patrick as we head down the stairs. “Can we go now?” I ask. “What about The Lock?” As I say the words, I see there's a pile of bones on the floor of the hallway. Patrick just walks straight past them and out the front door, so I follow.
“Good luck,” calls Diana.
I turn to her. “Did Patrick really bring me to Gothos just so he could have sex with me?”
Diana smiles. “What do you think?”
“I think... I think I don't know. I think I might not ever know”.
“Time will tell,” says Diana.
“What happened to The Lock?” I ask.
Diana looks at the bones on the floor. “He came back to spend some time with old friends,” she says. “And now he is nothing more than a pile of bones, thanks to his wife. She has razor-sharp teeth and a very good memory, and she had been drinking all evening”.
“His wife?”
Diana nods. “Astley's mother”. She walks over and kicks the bones. “Unfortunately, his wife was feeling rather hungry. These things happen sometimes in a house such as Gothos”.
I turn and walk out, running down the steps to catch up to Patrick. It's coming up to dawn as we walk into the garden. I look back at the house for a moment, then I grab Patrick's arm and make him stop.
“Why did you do that?” I ask. “Why did you kiss me and go to bed with me?”
He stares at my arm. I look down to see there's a lot of blood still running from the wound. Feeling slightly light-headed, I look back at Patrick. “I can't be pregnant, can I? We're not even the same species”.
There's a huge crashing sound, and I turn to see Gothos collapsing. It's like something from a fairytale, as the whole building falls in upon itself and finally is gone.
“Who was Astley?” I ask Patrick. “What was he? He said he was a god”.
Patrick shrugs.
“Are you ever going to talk to me?” I ask, but there's no response, and I'm starting to feel really strange. Blood loss? I grab hold of Patrick, to try to stay on my feet, but it's no use. As I look back at the ruins of Gothos one more time, everything goes black.
18.
I carry her home.
Again.
It feels strange to be saying farewell to Gothos for the final time. The place has so many memories, and has been a part of my life for so many centuries. I knew for many years that I would have to go back one final time, that Astley would be waiting for me. And I knew, also, that I would have to conceive a child within the walls of house. These things, which weighed on me for many years, have happened now. I can rest a little.
Sophie will be okay. She has lost a lot of blood, but the wound is already starting to close. Astley's bite was just a bite and there will be no long-term consequences. He was not a vampire, nor was he any kind of creature other than the ghost of the servant of a god. He was the lowest form of life in that house, yet through sheer will
power he was able to elevate himself through the ranks. He kept the ghosts of Gothos working, but now they can rest.
No strangers will ever go to Gothos again. They will never need to go there, and even if they are curious, I will make sure that they can never find it. Gothos is in the past now, as are the ghosts that dwell there. The final gods are dead, the vampires have no way back, and the werewolves have been driven out. If anyone rediscovered Gothos, they would see it as merely a relic of the past, an old house with crumbling walls and a strange atmosphere. I will not have to destroy the cursed place again.
There are other things to worry about now. Sophie and I have passed through to the next phase of our relationship. She will be confused, and angry, and ultimately she will suffer. I have no way to prevent any of this from happening, because my only concern is to ensure that there is no way for the old vampire hierarchy to ever return. Today, at Gothos, I sealed their fate.
I slide Sophie's bedroom window open, and I carry her into the room. Placing her on the bed, I check the wound on her shoulder. She will be okay.
If there is a God, may he forgive me for what I have done to this girl. Her life without me would have been so much more peaceful, so much happier. But she has been chosen as the one who will fulfil the prophecy, and the road will be long. We have passed the first hurdle now, the journey to Gothos. But she is about to face her greatest challenge. Ultimately, I have absolute faith that she will deliver exactly what is required. I just wish that she, and I, could be around to witness it.
She is waking now. I kiss her forehead. By the time she opens her eyes, I will be gone.
Epilogue
We chased Astley across the French countryside, and after three days and three nights we caught up with him in the forest near a small river. Tired and hungry, he turned and begged us for mercy. He promised to give us anything we wanted, but we told him that the only thing we wanted was to make his agony last for as long as possible. So he tried to run again, but he fell and soon we were upon him.
We devoured his flesh first, until he was a screaming body of muscle and fat. It is quite amazing what ghosts can do to one another. Finally, we removed his head and ate the skin and muscle, passing his skull around like a bowl at a feast. He was still screaming.
After near two days, we were so full that we felt we could eat no more. So we left his body in the woods and we walked away. It was, in many ways, the perfect revenge. And as we walked on, we saw that the war in Europe was coming to an end, at least for now.
Finally, we reached a small village where people were celebrating the cessation of hostilities. We caused much comment, having the outward appearance of a trinity of young female maids. But we were there for one purpose: to meet an old friend.
He was sitting in the corner of a small bar. The vampire, embroiled still in his own war with his own species, and barely aware of the wars fought among the humans, was deep in debate with a Scottish werewolf. We interrupted to thank the vampire, and to tell him that he had been the one who freed us. Of course, he did not know what we were talking about, but we were grateful anyway. After confirming our dedication to him, and after rebuffing the sexual advances of the werewolf, we bade farewell and left the bar.
Outside, it was a beautiful morning, the perfect time for three ghosts to evaporate into the ether. There would be more wars on this planet, more death, more pain. But we would not be part of it. The werewolves would be run from their home, and the vampires would be destroyed... all but one. And one day, a human would carry the child of the last vampire. But we would not see this, because we would be gone on an autumn breeze.
NEXT
Dark Season VII: Testament (released in late January 2012)
In the penultimate book in the first series, Sophie Hart finds herself in a mental asylum. Her family are worried that she is losing her mind, but Sophie insists that she really has been spending time with a vampire named Patrick. Eventually, she starts to doubt her own sanity, but then she learns of a mysterious fellow patient at the asylum, a man kept in a locked lead room... a man who claims to be the last vampire. When she finally reaches this man, Sophie finds that he's not Patrick. Is there another vampire after all?
Also available by Amy Cross
Dark Season series
Dark Season: The Last Vampire
Dark Season II: Sentinel
Army of Wolves (Dark Season III)
The Civil Dead (Dark Season IV)
The Life, Death, Life, Life and Death of Martin Keller (Dark Season V)
Love Stories? Series
Love Stories? - Erotic Short Stories For Women
Love Stories? volume II – Erotic Short Stories
Other books
The Dead and the Dying
At War With the Hamptons
Available from Katie Clover
Natural Redhead – Two Ginger Erotic Short Stories
An Older Woman – Erotic Short Story
Me, My Wife and the Babysitter – Erotic Short Story
Unbeatable – Erotic Short Story (FREE at Smashwords)